Antifeedant

Amygdalin, a cyanide-releasing compound, is produced by some plants to deter herbivores.[1]

Antifeedants are organic compounds produced by plants to repel herbivores through distaste or toxicity. These chemical compounds are typically classified as secondary metabolites in that they are not essential for the metabolism of the plant, but instead confer longevity. Antifeedants exhibit a wide range of activities and chemical structures as biopesticides. Examples include rosin, which inhibits attack on trees, and many alkaloids, which are highly toxic to specific insect species,[2] such as quassinoids (extracts from Quassia trees) against the diamondback moth (Plutela xylostella).[3] Samadera indica also has quassinoids used for insect antifeedant uses.[4]

Limonoids such as limonin are antifeedants produced by a number of plants of the families cucurbitaceae Rutaceae and Meliaceae.[5]
  1. ^ Gleadow, RM; Møller, BL (2014). "Cyanogenic glycosides: synthesis, physiology, and phenotypic plasticity". Annual Review of Plant Biology. 65: 155–85. doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-050213-040027. PMID 24579992.
  2. ^ Richard N. Bennett; Roger M. Wallsgrove (1994). "Secondary metabolites in plant defence mechanisms". New Phytologist. 127 (4): 617–633. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1994.tb02968.x. PMID 33874382.
  3. ^ Daido, M.; Ohno, N.; Imamura, K.; Fukamiya, N.; Hatakoshi, M.; Yamazaki, H.; et al. (1995). "Antifeedant and insecticidal activity of quassinoids against the diamondback moth (Plutela xylostella) and structure-activity relationships". Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 59 (6): 974–9. doi:10.1271/bbb.59.974.
  4. ^ Govindachari, T.R.; Krishnakumari, G.N.; Gopalakrishnan, G.; Suresh, G.; Wesley, S.D.; Sreelatha, T. (2001). "Insect antifeedant and growth regulating activities of quassinoids from Samadera indica". Fitoterapia. 72 (5): 568–71. doi:10.1016/S0367-326X(00)00342-7. PMID 11429258.
  5. ^ Amit Roy and Shailendra Saraf (2006). "Limonoids: Overview of Significant Bioactive Triterpenes Distributed in Plants Kingdom". Biol. Pharm. Bull. 29 (2): 191–201. doi:10.1248/bpb.29.191. PMID 16462017.